Shingle



Dec. 13, 1938. @.H, GRAHAM SHINGLE Filed Feb. e, 1937 Patented Dec. 13, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHINGLE Illinois Application February 6, 1937, Serial No. 124,386

3 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in surface coverings such as shingles and has more particular reference to an improved fabricated strip shingle having a base of felted fibrous material saturated with a water-proong compound such as asphalt and surfaced with crushed slate or other mineral granules.

An object of the invention is to improve fabricated strip shingles of the type above described to increase the insulating qualities of said shingles, to make said shingles more durable, thereby increasing the life of the same, and to provide a product which will be better adapted for roofs of buildings, homes and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shingle of the character described which will have a relatively heavy butt end portion as compared to' the head laps portion of the shingle. The heavy butt portion will cause the shingle to lie flat when on a roof and also there is less tendency for the shingle to curl. Likewise the butt end of the present shingles will more effectively resist the tendency of the wind to lift them up and to blow water and moisture between overlapping shingles. A

A further object of the invention is to provide a fabricated shingle which will be surfaced on the butt portion with mineral granules to a thickness that will give better protection against the ravages of the weather, which will have`greater durability and better than average resistance against fire, and which will not weigh more per area than less satisfactory shingles in these respects and might possibly weigh even less.

Another object is to provide a fabricated strip shingle having a relatively heavy butt end portion for increased durability and a head lap end. formed by a soft porous section of the felt base which therefore has a relatively high asphalt saturation, rendering said end more adhesive than otherwise so that the overlapping shingles will more readily adhere thereto'. Thus, the present shingles when on a roof will lie at by reason of the added weight of the butt portion and also 7 since the butt portion will become bonded to the head lap end of the underlying shingle.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawing and claims appended hereto.

In the drawing which illustrates an embodiment of the invention and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts-1 (Cl. 10S-'7) Figure 1 is a plan Viewy of a strip shingle embodying the improvements of the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 of Figure 1 and showing the variation in thickness of the base;

Figure 3 is a plan view of a strip shingle having square tabs and which embodies the improvements of the invention;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevational View of a strip shingle having hexagonal tabs and embodying the improvements of the invention.V

Referring to the drawing, the roofing unit selected for illustrating the present invention preferably consists of a strip shingle indicated generally by numeral I0, Figure 1, comprising a felted base I2 formed from rag, asbestos and the like that has been saturated and coated on both sides with a waterproofing compound such as A asphalt while in the form of a continuous web. According to the invention the said continuous web is surfaced with mineral granules, the said surfacing being conned to certain strips which form the butt end of the shingle as shown in Fig- A ure 1. The mineral granules on said butt end are indicated by numeral I4. The improvements of the invention can be applied to strip shingles having square or hexagonal shaped tabs, as will be clear by reference to Figures 3 and 5. However u the shingle I0 of Figure 1 is of the tabless type and accordingly the butt portion thereof is corrugated as at I5 to simulate individual shingles. The corrugations fulfill the functions of the cutout portions of the tab shingles by providing for expansion and contraction but eliminate the objectionable features of cut-outs which tend to weaken the shingle.

0 The elted iibrous base of the present shingle has a much greater thickness inits head lap portion I8 than the portion 20 forming the butt end of the shingle. This variation in thickness between the butt end and the head lap end may be produced by several methods. For purposes of the present invention it is only necessary to A, p

describe the character of the felted brous base prior to the saturation of the same with asphalt. The continuous web from which this present shingle is formed may have portions of very hard dense material and other portions alternating therewith of relatively soft porous material, or said continuous strip may comprise hard dense material throughout with certain portions thereof rendered relatively soft and porous by indenting the material which has the effect of separating the bers. When a web of this character is saturated with asphalt the soft porous portions will absorb a materially greater quantity of water-proong compound than the hard dense areas and accordingly the resulting sheet after saturation will be characterized by variations in thickness, the portion of the sheet consisting of the soft porous areas having the greater thickness. Roofing material capable of selective saturation as above described can also be formed by starting with a very hard and stiff felted sheet, for example, one capable of an asphalt saturation of to 190 per cent of the weight of the felted sheet, and passing said sheet as a continuous web through an indenting machine in order to open up the ibrous base of certain portions thereof, which portions will eventually form the head lap end of the present shingle. This operation does not appreciably reduce the tensile strength of the felt although the ability of the same to absorb asphalt is increased as a result so that the saturation will approximate 200 to 210 per cent..

Following the saturation of a felted nbrous sheet capable of selective saturation, as above described, the same is coated on both faces with a layer of high-melt point oxidized asphalt for weather proong the saturated base and for securely bonding the mineral granules which are subsequently applied on one face of the sheet to those areas where the sheet is relatively thin. The sheet is then severed longitudinally and the -shingle strips are cut to form shingles such as shown in Figure 1. The mineral granules which may comprise crushed slate, crushed porcelain, tile or natural stone surfacing the butt end of the shingle have a thickness that will make a very durable shingle and one having greater than average resistance to fire. The granules are applied so as to render the butt portion of the shingle substantially as thick as the head lap portion. By building up the relatively thin butt portion by a comparatively heavy layer of mineral granules the weight of the butt end is materially increased with respect to shingles heretofore produced. This has several advantages in that the increased weight being confined solely to the butt end portion will cause said portionto lie perfectly flat on a roof and the same will also effectively resist tendencies to curl and the action of the wind in lifting the shingle, causing water to be blown between the shingles.

The head lap end of the present shingle formed by the soft porous portion of the base and which portion has a high asphalt saturation is thinly surfaced with talc, or a nely pulverized material, to allow the shingles to seal and yet prevent sticking in the bundle. 'I'hus advantage is taken of the high asphalt saturation of the head lap end to produce a bonding between the same and the butt end of overlapping shingles. The coating of the saturated base is generally a high melt point asphalt and under the action of the sun when the shingles are on a roof the said coating on the head lap end becomes soft and sticky, securely bonding the butt end portions of the overlapping shingles thereto. For a shingle of approximately twelve inches in height the butt end portion will extend .for a distance of approximately seven inches, whereas, the head lap end will extend for the remaining distance, namely, five inches. These distances of course vary, depending on the size of the shingle. rIhe present shingle'will eectively fuliill all requirements of service, being extremely durable by reason of the heavy layer of granules on the butt end portion. The weight of said shingle will also compare favorably with shingles heretofore constructed and may even weigh less.

Figure 3 shows the invention applied to a strip shingle having square tabs. The shingle 3Q has a base portion of varying thickness in accordance with the invention, forming a relatively thick head lap portion I8 and a thin butt end portion 20. The square tabs 32 are formed by the cut-outs 34. The butt end portion of the shingle is surfaced with coarse mineral granules 36 and a relatively heavy layer is applied so that the resulting thickness of the butt end portion is substantially the same as that of the head lap end. In this latter respect the shingle of Figure 3 differs from the tabless type shown in Figure l, wherein the head lap` was devoid of any surfacing.

A hexagonal tab'shingle such as shown in Figure 3 may also be produced according to the present invention. The shingle identied by numeral 4i) will consist of a felted fibrous base capable of selective saturation to produce a relatively thick head lap end and a thin butt end portion. The tabs 42 and the remaining butt end portion are surfaced with coarse mineral granules et, a heavy layer being applied in order to compensate for the thin portion of the base. It is preferable with shingles having cut-out portions forming tabs to grit surface the entire area thereof on one face and thus the shingles of both Figures 3 and 5 have mineral granules on the head lap end, which may be very fine, as described with respect to Figure 3, or coarse, similar in all respects to the granule surfacing of the butt end portion.

The invention is not to be limited to or by details of construction of the particular embodiu;

ment thereof illustrated by the drawing, as various other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A strip shingle comprising a base of felted sheet material having a relatively soft and thick head lap portion and a relatively hard and thin butt end portion and having a greater quantity of water-proofing compound in the head lap portion per unit of area which is therefore thicker than the butt end portion, and a relatively heavy coating of mineral granules covering the surface of the butt portion on the top4 face of the shingle, said coating of mineral granules having a thickness to compensate for the thin base of the butt portion, whereby said shingle has a substantially uniform thickness.

2. A strip shingle comprising a base of felted fibrous. material saturated with asphalt and having a butt portion and a head lap portion of different width, said base comprising a relatively soft and thick head lap portion and a relatively hard and thin butt`end portion and containing a greater amount of asphalt per unit of area in the head lap portion than in the butt portion, whereby said head Vlap portion is materially thicker, and a coating of mineral granules covering the surface of the butt portion on the top face of the shingle, said coating having a thickness to compensate for the thin base of the butt portion, whereby said shingle has a substantially uniform thickness.

3. A strip shingle comprising a base of felted fibrous material having a butt portion and a head lap portion of different Widths, the butt portion of said shingle containing a Waterproofing composition from 175 per cent to 190 per cent of saturation based on the Weight of the brous material, and the head lap portion containing a water-proong composition from 200 per cent to 210 per cent of saturation, whereby said butt portion is materially thinner than the head lap portion, and a coating of mineral granules covering the surface of the butt portion and. having a thickness compensating for the thin 5 base.

GEORGE H. GRAHAM. 

